deeps Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Questions about transfers may not be asked, unless previously mentioned by the General. Thread rules. Sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaRoy Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 General can the club only handle one transfer at a time? I hear reports of pondering or waiting for outgoing deals to be completely complete. I know only press/reports, but it adds up. This is instead of trying to get multiple incoming deals done and dusted like Sunderland did over a 2 week period. I fear for a season of indecision on the pitch if we can't get a good few players in for some preseason, get a team together and gelling. Also £2million for arguably our best center back. Madness, hope we are replacing him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villabromsgrove Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 General, my question is this, do you have the phone number of a good psychiatrist because I obviously need one. I've been a Villa fan for six decades and I reckon that we are doing ok. I hope we don't buy too many players this summer because having watched a lot of our young players in reserve matches over the past few seasons I think that we may be sitting on a goldmine. Please message me that number as I apparently need treatment fast. Up the Villa as always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisNichollsToe Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 General..... This is something you posted on another Villa Forum. 2. Randy.Stand and Jasevilla: Where do we want to be/what is our vision? Both of these questions are interconnected and important. Our goal has not changed one iota since the day we arrived at Villa Park. We want to play in Europe and we want to top the League. The vision...how to reach that goal...has had to change over time. The driving factor behind the change is the same driving factor that has impacted the entire league....the influx of owners who have the ability to "out-splash" just about anyone. Instead of feeling that we can make a huge move forward in one year, it is obvious to us, to you the Fans, and to the sporting world in the UK that reaching the top for MOST Clubs (unless you literally have billions to spend) takes building from the ground up coupled with some wise transfer moves. You need a good Academy and depth with your youth PLUS some very quality transfers such as Darren Bent. We are developing solid young players, we have a solid nucleus of a team and we have some top flight players. We are going for our goal...our vision...and we will achieve that goal and vision by competing the best way we can. You look at American Football...at a team like the Green Bay Packers. The Packers do not have owners who "splash" huge amounts of money...the team is owned by the Fans. What they have done is, over the years, built a team from the ground up. They have drafted young players and, every year, they have purchased some strong veterans. They are now winners. In my PERSONAL opinion, we will see MOST of the teams in the Premiership moving in this direction...because they don't have the money to do it in another way. We WILL reach our goal...we will reach our vision. Now im not going to pick through it, but the jest of it seems to suggest that the club will be run the same way as any American Football team..... Now the question i ask, is why do you think that? Basicly, between you and me, its bloody ridiculous :oops: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moorski Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 General, Do you think that Villa will follow the GB Packers lead? Just my opinion but in PL football, too many veterans combined with Youth =relegation. English football & American football should not be compared playing wise. Your thoughts on that ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UTVPK Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 could you be good enough to post on this site General.... there are some valid and relevant questions that some of us have raised and not just knocking the board and the usual insults etc. valid questions are missed because your reply times are now very slow and so many other posters have contributed in that time. if you have your preferences on which site you post, you should let the mods know and have this thread closed. it has been good having a means of communication with a non exec board member. but clearly, the novelty may have worn off and posters for the most part, now use it to express insults rather than opinions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 General, a lot higher than the percentage represented on here are patient enough to give you until the end of the transfer window before we jump all over you for not acting. These are times of great concern and there are some questions that should be asked, but some of the vitriol and knee jerk reactions are appalling. This is not just a respresentation of Villa fans but football fans in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 General, I am writing this with all due respect. It is so depressing, every single summer we try and look forward to the new season, we get excited about signings and the year ahead. Now all we have every summer are the best players leaving, it is happening far too often - Barry, Milner and now Young and Downing. Does it not bother you that the club fails to keep hold of our better players? You may hide away when the going gets tough and I do understand why, we're a very unhappy bunch most of the time and we can be a little hard to handle. Do you not think that the sale of players such as the ones mentioned as got the players so downhearted we are wondering what is in store for the next 5 years? How are we supposed to buy a shirt and adore our favourite player when the next summer he might be gone? What has changed since you first came to the club? We had none of the selling of stars (and yes we did have some, Barry, Laursen, Agbonlahor), it seemed that the whole idea was to keep our best players and to build on this slowly with greater quality, allowing us to compete. Do you not think the fans are wondering why we can stand up and stop the sale of Barry but now seem to just sell players as soon as an inflated price comes in? Can you be honest with us for once, do not fob us off with stories of tattoos and things that have happened in the past. We are not stupid, we would back Randy 100% IF WE FELT YOU WERE HONEST! If you turn around and tell us that perhaps it is harder than first thought and we are re-thinking the strategy, yes it would hurt but we can accept that. It is much easier than being told Randy will back the manager 100% and then having the players sold constantly. Can you please stop the lies and tell us what is happening and whether Randy is giving up, has given up, needs to sell players to make sure the club survives or what. Or.... tell us that nothing has changed since day one and we are just rebuilding a team!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Secret_Squirrel Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Hi General I read with interest the comparison with American Football and whilst i think it is a laudable approach I dont think it will ever yeild a club capable of finishing above 6/7/8th in the Premier League. There is one major factor that PL clubs need to contend with the NFL clubs dont and this scews the playing field even more than mega rich owners - the Champions League. It's created a glass ceiling and the only way in is via heavy financial investment. As we well know the lure (and money) of the CL for the players is impossible to resist and the best players will just not stick around long enough to allow a club to strengthen and evolve over time. The best players that come through the academy will soon be off should a CL club come calling! I think our best bet would be to get together with other PL clubs in a similar position - Tottenham, Everton, Sunderland etc and even Liverpool (plus other Eupean clubs who find the same in thier leagues) and lobby for an expanded all inclusive European competition. Scrap the UEFA League (nobody is interested) and have an expanded Champions League - whilst it wouldnt smash the glass ceiling it would make it bigger for more to jump on board! Could split the competition at the half way stage to create the European Champions trophy and a secondary UEFA cup comp. An expanded Champions League place for the FA and League Cup winners would also reinvigerate the domestic competitions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holtender_in_Sky Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Well, I received my new away shirt and part of the 'T' on the sponsors logo has come away from the shirt...... Has the past 12 months at this football club been some kind of sick joke? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-krulak Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 General krulak here: 1. First off, I try to get on the Boards at least once a week...and I think I have done better than that lately. As most of you know, I have a full time job now and can really only get to the sites on the weekend. It is NOT because I am afraid to come on the sites...please. 2. My comment about American Football was not to say the AVFC was following the American Football method. What I was saying is that combining youth with experienced players is not necessarily a bad thing. More importantly, what I was saying was that you needed a strong youth contingent always moving up in the organization if you really want to be successful. I believe that Villa has a strong youth contingent and that if we continue to nurture them and place them with experienced players, we can achieve great success. To just summarily dismiss that model because it happens to be used by a team in the NFL doesn't seem smart to me. Again, just my view. 3. There is no question that the Champions League is a double-edge sword. My personal view is that the first thing that needs to be done is some sort of salary cap....right now it is the cost of players that makes the league the way it is. 4. dodgyknees: I will forget the fact that you called me a liar...although I can tell you that I would not let you get away with that type of insult if we were fact to face. You can call me a lot of things but the day you start questioning my integrity is the day you need to cool your jets. I don't know who you are and I don't know how old you are but....you need to apologize or keep of this thread. "Stop the sale of our players like we did Barry?" We took all sorts of heat when Barry left!! Give me a break. From a business standpoint, we got 20M pounds for Downing....before you go cutting your wrists, let's see who we get to replace him....and yes, he can be replaced. Before he got here, he was a good player but not a 20M pound player....we will get another. You hit the nail on the head..."an inflated price." If we can get 20M pounds for someone like Downing, why wouldn't YOU, as a Fan, not want us to do it??? We can replace the man....and in the end, with someone who WANTS to play for us and who will play for us. Do we think it is "harder than we thought"? The answer is NO. What has happened is that the League has changed with the influx of wealth....the only thing that makes it "harder" is the money being splashed around. BUT, Randy has done a lot of spending too. 5. No, the Club can handle more than one transfer at a time. At some point, the Fans need to understand that we do NOT run transfers according to the Fan's timeline, we do it according to the Club's timeline. Some opportunities pop up and you can jump right on them....but most need a good deal of work. It is not as simple as the Fans think...it is not just a matter of saying, "Hmmmm, I like this lad so I will just go get him." It may be that simple if you are a multi-billionaire but if you aren't, it takes time and effort to get the right deal. 6. We are not "inactive" in buying players. See above. 7. I am not sure how many times and in how many ways that I can tell you that 1) I understand we had a crap season last year 2) I understand you didn't like the choice of Manager, 3) I understand you didn't like that we sold Young and Downing. I get it. All of your concerns are known by the Club. At the end of the day, we didn't like last year either. We believe that AM is a fine choice and will do a fine job. Young and Downing departures will, at the end of the day, be good for the Club. I may be completely wrong but here is what I think: I think that AM will surprise you and be a strong Manager for our Club. I think that our Squad will be much stronger than any of you give us credit for and I think that they will make us proud. Unfortunately, we won't know until we get to the season. I am willing to wait and see....some of you are not. I get that too. I wish that the Fans had a bit more faith in Randy and the Club but I appreciate why some don't. Sooooo, we will just wait and see who is correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudevillaisnice Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 General who dishes out these contracts to players? manager? chairman? we seem to have alot of players on our books who have contracts expiring when they are 34/35.. that's just ridiculous and it seems no thought has been taken into account when giving these contracts out? Beye/Heskey are the main ones that stand out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis_B Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 1. First off, I try to get on the Boards at least once a week...and I think I have done better than that lately. As most of you know, I have a full time job now and can really only get to the sites on the weekend. It is NOT because I am afraid to come on the sites...please With respect General I bet 90+% of those posters on here also have a full time job but that doesn't stop them posting as they have a personal 'interst' in the club - you, with respect, have a 'position' with the club as our link - I hope as a non-exec you give more to the club that a weekly web visit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Hi General, when you said "imagine what McLeish can do if he's backed" (or something very similar to those words) ....did you mean in the transfer market or just job security? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UTVPK Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Respect to you General, your comments about Downing are SPOT ON! as soon as he did a massive u turn and put the knife into AVFC I could not wait to see that back of him and for 20 million, Liverpool are crazy! On this I applaud the board for the sale. Your also right that he can easily be replaced, very overated player. I truly believe that what goes around comes around... Mr D's time will come soon enough. I am also with you on the insults, a lot are not required and way too personal. I know the mods on here try there best to keep them fair and to the point, but overall, dont let them ruin it for the rest of us. Lets just see how we shape up as a team when the season kicks off. Up The Villa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted July 17, 2011 Author Moderator Share Posted July 17, 2011 7. I am not sure how many times and in how many ways that I can tell you that 1) I understand we had a crap season last year 2) I understand you didn't like the choice of Manager, 3) I understand you didn't like that we sold Young and Downing. I get it. All of your concerns are known by the Club. At the end of the day, we didn't like last year either. We believe that AM is a fine choice and will do a fine job. Young and Downing departures will, at the end of the day, be good for the Club. I may be completely wrong but here is what I think: I think that AM will surprise you and be a strong Manager for our Club. I think that our Squad will be much stronger than any of you give us credit for and I think that they will make us proud. Unfortunately, we won't know until we get to the season. I am willing to wait and see....some of you are not. I get that too. I wish that the Fans had a bit more faith in Randy and the Club but I appreciate why some don't. Sooooo, we will just wait and see who is correct. Hi General, The problem is well the problem is there are a few problems with this. You see you say that you understand last season was a crap season only half way through it you were saying that Houllier was doing a remarkable job. You then tell us that you think McLeish is a fine choice yet there is plenty to suggest he was far from being your first choice. Even if he was your first choice surely you can understand that given that last season was a) a crap season and the boards previous choice of manager by definition proved to be a crap choice there is a significant amount of concern amonst supporters especially given our new managers recent record. A month ago you said we would see plenty of action from the board and manager in the next couple of weeks but as I've already pointed out we saw no action that could be deemed positive. While I can understand your frustrations at some of what you have to read here I do think you are failing to understand why so many reasonable fans are growing increasingly frustrated and concerned. Faith is funny word and concept, I've never much believed in things I can't see and there in lies the problem General, we as fans can't see much to believe in at the moment. You said yourself that its action not words that are important and as fans the only actions we have seen this summer haven't inspired confidence or hope. As always General thanks for coming on and posting it is appreciated even in difficult times and these are indeed difficult times compared to resent years. We have little option but to wait and see I guess but I think the club need to seriously consider the way they communicate with fans especially if as you say you will be posting less frequently. Regards TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 general, once again i must ask why the club arent doing anything about the tapping up of our players? downing was tapped up, and it was reported to the club. and we know that rangers were in touch with carlos without villas permission, why arent we doing anything about this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon_c Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Point 4, is a very grown up reaction. I usually expect the 'you wouldn't say that to my face' argument, to be met with the moderators red text. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 4. dodgyknees: I will forget the fact that you called me a liar...although I can tell you that I would not let you get away with that type of insult if we were fact to face. You can call me a lot of things but the day you start questioning my integrity is the day you need to cool your jets. I don't know who you are and I don't know how old you are but....you need to apologize or keep of this thread. "Stop the sale of our players like we did Barry?" We took all sorts of heat when Barry left!! Give me a break. From a business standpoint, we got 20M pounds for Downing....before you go cutting your wrists, let's see who we get to replace him....and yes, he can be replaced. Before he got here, he was a good player but not a 20M pound player....we will get another. You hit the nail on the head..."an inflated price." If we can get 20M pounds for someone like Downing, why wouldn't YOU, as a Fan, not want us to do it??? We can replace the man....and in the end, with someone who WANTS to play for us and who will play for us. Do we think it is "harder than we thought"? The answer is NO. What has happened is that the League has changed with the influx of wealth....the only thing that makes it "harder" is the money being splashed around. BUT, Randy has done a lot of spending too. I think the only part I will take back is the part where I said lie, perhaps that was a little bit drastic, I'm not stubborn and apologise. I have to say though, you mention again that Randy has spent a lot of money but we have also sold a lot of players in that time (as I mentioned) somebody on the forum earlier mentioned that we only got a little bit more for our player of the year with two years left than we got for Young who had one year left. If you want to be upfront and honest, why not tell us what the plans are? I appreciate you coming on but it would be nice to know that there are plans in place to be a success and not just to sit around in mid table, scoop up any prize money and sell off our assets? Can you give definite answers as to ambition? I don't have the figures to hand but I am sure the actual outlay on players over the past 4 years along is not too far away from money we have actually received from player sales. 36m again out this summer, 18m last summer on one player - what happens if we get a bid for Bent in January? what comes first, ambition of the dollar? How can we build a team and keep a structure when every couple of years we'll let one player go in order to finance the purchase of other players? I understand it is IMPOSSIBLE to match certain teams in the league, but I also want to know there is still ambition to reach the top 4. 5 years ago, you guys came in and said you wanted us to be where we were years ago, we had the finance, Randy seemed to back the manager completely, he has done wonders with the pub and with the whole package. Then MON goes and suddenly everything seems to be unrealistic... nobody knows what the ambition of the board is! with all due respect all we get from you is that Randy backs his managers, that Randy has a tattoo and that Randy cares... I'm sure all of those could be said about Phil Gartside (probably not the tattoo! but plenty of men have tattoos of their ex wives) but that does not mean Bolton have the ability to challenge at the very top! Every single shirt I have bought over the past 5 years bar one or two has been packed away at the bottom of my wardrobe because I am fed up of seeing Young, Milner and others on the back! So what is it, mid table acceptance or is the dream still alive? THAT is all I want to know because we have no clue any more, all I ask is complete honesty on that matter. And I would say this to you face to face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoughboroughLion Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 General, what is your opinion on how Downing handled leaving the club? Especially with regards to him mentioning us very little in interviews post deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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